wmr

I have read that the city found need for 1200 spaces in a parking deck. I sure hope they don't build anything nearly that large. I would think a smaller deck accomodating 300 or so cars would relieve any parking issues Dickson has right now. Jordan has thrown himself stubbornly behind this project, even though I believe when he was debating Coody before the election, he came out against paid parking.

Maybe the city will revive those plans for a hotel and retail at Dickson & West Ave. That strip needs to be developed for Dickson to reach its fullest potential.

Some work is happening at the old Circuit City on Joyce.

Marlon Blackwell designed the expansion for the Montessori School that is underway right now. This is on the edge of Colt Square, at Green Acres and Township. I thought it might be of interest that Fayetteville is getting another Marlon Blackwell structure.

The city should buy it, use the office space as needed, and use the street frontage to incubate new funky businesses and artistic ventures by providing lower rent for start ups. Thats if money wasn't a big deal. It feeds into the arts initiatives as well as the local business community. Make it a stringent application process for new businesses, give them a two year lease and let them get established. Over time, they can get good rents out of the storefronts and it can become a revenue stream for the city... Those storefronts need to open onto to the Square and interact with everything going on out there.

I just had a few thoughts I thought I'd put here. For a community that I thought saw itself as something different or "high end" for NWA, Bentonville sure has let itself get really ugly. I was up there the other day and I was struck by how incredibly ugly Walton Boulevard has become. Its sad. With even a little forward thinking, the street could have looked much better. Most of the development along Walton between Rainbow Curve and 540 has taken place over the last 10 years. Fayetteville has been regulating signage for 30 years, and landscape requirements for 20 years. Its not like Bentonville didn't have a decent local example to follow. Walton Boulevard is no better looking than Sunset in Springdale to me. Its sad. The growth was going to happen regardless of restrictions and zoning and better ordinances. The real face of Bentonville is now giant, ugly signs of varying heights and enormous proportions. It appears to have more strip malls than probably any other place in the USA per capita. I'm disappointed at how Bentonville has grown without any apparent guidance from its planning department.

I believe the survey work is being done for the flyover right now. Not sure, but I think it may start construction this summer.

Check out these "wireless" streetcars in Dallas. They run on batteries, which need a charge every 5 miles or so. I would think something like this would be awesome for Dickson, or College Avenue between the Square and Evelyn Hills. This would eliminate the need for overhead wires, but still have the permanence and coolness of light rail/street car service. http://www.dallasnews.com/news/transportation/20110308-dart-unveils-energy-efficient-streetcar-to-run-on-proposed-downtown-line.ece

People don't want to ride the bus. A rail line is permanent, and encourages longterm changes to the area that Fayetteville is working on. Its expensive, but I could see a rail line starting out at the Square, or on the UA campus, and running down to College Avenue. From there, it makes the route down to Evelyn Hills. Turnaround there, and come back. Evelyn Hills could be made into a higher density node of retail and even apartments/condos. Everybody downtown eventually makes their way to Ozark Natural Foods and some of the other local retailers. On football gamedays, I could see people parking or getting a bite to eat at Evelyn Hills and riding the trolley downtown or up to campus. Stops I envision along College Avenue: 1) Courthouse 2) Marvin's IGA. 3) Wilson Park/Lacuna 4) UAMSNW 5) Evelyn Hills There you have several good spots for people to get on and get off the trolley. That runs through one of the densest areas of the city, and also one of the steepest areas, where people are less inclined to walk or cycle. You have your government services, neighborhood groceries, Park/Trail access, Medical Center, and Shopping/Dining destinations. I think Evelyn Hills is a good turn around because its got ample parking that could allow for some park&ride. Given downtown's pay parking ordeal, I could see people using that option. It also makes for a more interesting, quaint evening riding the trolley downtown. Once this leg is established, look at adding a longer line. Maybe extend it out to Fiesta Square first, before leaping all the way out to the Mall area.

It sounds to me like they asked for the moon (50 feet!) and anticipate rolling it back to something more reasonable. I could see a 15 foot buffer being something people are more comfortable with. 50 feet takes away people's entire back yard.

Anybody concerned about the future growth of Fayetteville needs to go take the CityPlan2030 survey here: http://www.accessfayetteville.org/government/strategic_planning/projects/City_Plan_2030_.cfm

I don't think any of them think the design is good at this point. They have spent the money and it would cost 25-30k to fix it at this point. That's money that can be used elsewhere, and in these tight budget times, they can't really justify spending more money on a project that hasn't lived up to expectations.

One of the biggest problems I have with the design is that the back in parking makes trucks, etc hang over the sidewalk on Block, making it even less pedestrian-friendly than it was before. The fronts of cars and trucks don't hang over as far as the rears. The city tried to make this street better for cars and for people on foot. I'd say they failed in all attempts. Quite an accomplishment to spend $250,000.00 to ruin the functionality of a city street.

C2 would require set backs of 50 ft from any street. Its an old zoning classification. I believe that corner is planned to be urban core of some type, meaning multiple stories, mixed uses, in the future land use plan. The idea of liquor stores and strip clubs are just red herrings, IMO. The city would prefer if the owners requested the change in zoning to the form-based code on the land use map. Instead, the owners want a more flexible zoning classification. Many things not quite as undesireable as strip clubs or liquor stores would become uses by right under a C-2 zoning. I like this move by the city, though, because the sooner we get our form-based codes put into place all over town, the better Fayetteville will start looking.

Yeah hopefully it is. I wonder though why they still wouldn't choose a diffrent name just to differentiate the two businesses. Unless the cupcake thing is being rolled into this.

I saw a permit for the Bliss Organic Cafe which is apparently taking over the short lived Opal Fly space on Center Street. It appears to be more of a bar/dance studio than the previous incarnation. Sounds somewhat promising. The Opal Fly never served alcohol and tried to be all different kinds of things. I do wonder if they realize there is a Bliss Cupcake Cafe literally two blocks from their location on the same street....

If the widening is going to affect that property, then AHTD will have to buy some of the property for ROW. Since the property will likely need to be reconfigured in order to remain viable, maybe that will factor into a sale and a project there. Ideally a building would face the parking area of Oak Plaza. Reorient it towards the plaza and it becomes less of a hassle to get in and out of. Just a few thoughts. I could see a restaurant like a Waffle House or something working there.

Thats good news. I was just in that area over the weekend and I couldn't help but notice how green and tree-ed that area seems now. Its the combination of the boulevarding of Garland up the hill and the plantings done along the cut-through at Oak Plaza. That entire area used to seem like a concrete wasteland. Now its getting less-so. Hope a nice redevelopment of that parcel keeps things moving in a good direction. The Garland project north of there with the new trees should also really help the appearance of that area.

If WAC decides on Benton County, the City of Fayetteville should pull back support for the Walton organization and try to get control back over the WAC building. Take more local, Fayetteville-centric control over the venue and make it a little funkier and more relevant to the city that its based in. Also, should the WAC head north (in reality) the city needs to make a strong effort to develop its own cultural or natural history museum on the lot adjacent anyway, and proceed as planned with a parking structure. A big part of the WAC's draw is being able to be out and about on Dickson before and afterwards. Maybe we won't continue to get the broadway shows, but I think the facility can be transitioned intos something more accessible to all of the community rather than just the uppercrust. There's enough going on in Fayetteville with the university to ensure a steady stream of entertainment at the venue. I think Fayetteville really needs to take an all or nothing approach. Bentonville will never be Fayetteville, or Plano, Texas, whichever its striving to become.

Thats a good point. But I think the Cosmo struggles because its not a very nice hotel. There aren't any good places to stay in Fayetteville. Springdale has a more sophisticated hotel market and thats sad. As for office space, there is a lot of unused downtown office space already. EJ Ball being a great example right up the street. The demand seems to be high for quality residential rentals in the downtown area. Maybe a mixed use with retail or restaurant below and some small, but pricey rental units up top. Or a Waffle House....

I agree with the sentiment, but I think a chain like Aloft would be fine as long as they abide by the downtown design standards and make it something that fits in. I don't want to see some trendy, stucco behemoth on that lot, but with the proper design, the brand wouldn't matter as much to me. An Aloft would actually be ideal, IMO, although I'm not really a fan of the brand myself. Its got a little cache with the W brand, but its still affordable so that it would stay booked. Alot likes to put a nice bar or even nightclub (like in Dallas) in their properties, so it would fit seamlessly with what is going on downtown.

Oh wow, thats definitely interesting. Perhaps Comreguy can provide some insight.

Dickson has really gotten to the point where parking is a pain. I went down tonight about 7:30 pm and I parked up on Block. Same thing last weekend. We eventually need that garage, and the best way to pay for it is through parking fees. I think that paid parking might cause a small drop off in patrons to Dickson, but in the long run, Dickson is going to keep growing. This is primarily about long term parking solutions. Its not about profit.

Hopefully they will consider in their appearance-of-fair-play performance that a lot of people will be wasting time and money trying to put together proposals. Every time I hear one of those WAC guys speak and say "We are not moving", it just sounds so political to me, like they are trying so hard to be diplomatic. Whatever the Walton family wants, they will do. Nothing else will even be considered. It appears at this point in time, their desire is to make Bentonville the NWA arts hub. I won't be driving 540 very often, if at all to attend WAC events in Bentonville so I can eat at a chain restaurant. I hope if the WAC heads north, the city can gain full control of the current WAC and have control over performances and content. Yes, I am feeling bitterness and resentment already.

Hope they can partner with someone to develop retail on the side that fronts Church St. It would be a shame to have just parking garage there.